Dirty Paradise

Anyone familiar with Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short horror story I Only Came To Use The Phone is likely to be wrong-footed by this evocative and engaging one-woman show, which takes it inspiration – but not its tone – from the tale.

Maria is a young woman who hears voices in her head, but doesn't want anyone to know.

So when they intrude during a date in the park, an argument with her foster mum or a shift at Shoe Express, no-one understands the way she reacts.

What's refreshing about Leann O'Kasi's 75-minute piece, presented as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, is that while Maria's condition impacts on her relationships and informs her life choices, it is never allowed to define her. This is a portrait of a clear-eyed, intelligent, passionate and courageous young woman who loves to dance.

O'Kasi gives a compelling performance under the direction of Alison Peebles, jumping back and forth in time to take the audience from London to Brazil and beyond on a fantastical journey that is peppered with insights gleaned from interviews with people who have experienced auditory hallucinations.

The soundtrack has been crafted with the lightest of touches, allowing for ambiguity and never once approaching the heavy-handed melodrama this could easily have become.